Faults
by imadoodlenoodle
Summary: Or, why Draco Malfoy should not be dating Ginny Weasley. After a letter from his father, Draco is told to think on why he shouldn't date Ginny and tell his father the reasons, Ginny's faults. Fluff


**Faults**

**_Or, why Draco Malfoy should not be dating Ginny Weasley_**

_Dedicated to Sid who, despite being highly annoying and full of faults, is a nice person and halfway decent friend._

XxX

The two Slytherin boys were both stretch out across there beds, the dark skinned boy surrounded by books reading intently and the extremely pale one set amongst a similar scene but tapping a quill against an almost blank piece of parchment instead of reading.

The continual tapping noise was the only thing to be heard, except for the slight sound of pages in a book being turned and the light breathing coming from them both. With every tap however, the tension in the room rose, the shoulders of the reading boy tightening and his knuckles clutching the book ever tighter. As he was about to turn the page he seemingly snapped, his head jumping up to face the other boy and he glared while his mouth twisted into a snare.

"_Stop it_," he hissed, closing his book as he did so. Moving into a sitting position from his lying down one, he started gathering his books together. "You've been lying there for the past hour making that infernal tapping sound, enough is enough. What's going on Draco?"

Draco looked up at his friend, his face devoid of all expression. "Nothing Blaise," he blankly replied while mindlessly continuing the tapping of his quill.

Blaise's right eye twitched at the sound and without another word he swiftly crossed the short space between their beds and seized upon another piece of parchment his friend had kept flickering his eyes to. Grabbing it and dancing away from his reacting friend, Blaise hastily read over the contents, well aware he would be deprived of its answers swiftly.

What he managed to gleam before Draco removed it from his hands cleared up any confusion he may have over his friend's condition.

"Oh."

"Yes, oh," Draco said simply, returning to his bed. "I really oughtn't be surprised he found out, I'm lucky that it's taken him this long."

Blaise returned to his bed too, saying nothing.

"He's made it quite clear that it's either her or him- and mother of course."

"Of course."

"He's decided that this is my teenage rebellious phase, so to help me out of it he wants me to list all of her faults and why she's not suitable to be a Malfoy."

"Hence the parchment then," Blaise muttered to himself.

"Yes. I'm," Draco paused for a moment. "I'm not sure I _want_ to go through her faults." The subtext was clear: by writing down her faults, Draco would be agreeing with his father about how she wasn't right for him and, at the moment, Draco wasn't sure he did agree.

"He'll be expecting a response soon I'm sure," Blaise pointed out. "Why don't you just send back some simple ones to tide him over?"

"He'll know what I'm doing."

"But you need time to decide what you want."

Draco was about to reply when the door to the dorm creaked open and Theodore Nott slid in. The strangely frank conversation the two had been having died quickly as the new boy walked over to his bed, and both boys turned back to their books.

Draco's letter back to his father which currently only contained greetings and the subheading 'Faults' was tucked beneath his pillow, ignored, as he prepared for bed.

XxX

The next day, while walking around the lake with Ginny, Draco began studying her for faults.

"Luna didn't want to of course, saying that the moonstone would clash with the legs of the," Ginny prattled on, seemingly oblivious to Draco's silence.

'_Fault one,'_ Draco thought, '_she must fill every silence._'

And it was true, there was never a moment's silence when Ginny was around, if anyone fell quiet for a second, she would quickly take over. Draco supposed it was because of her home life, too many people, too much noise.

What was a nice pleasant walk around the lake turned into a telling of the day's events. Retuning into the story, Draco nodded in the correct places and smiled when appropriate.

XxX

As the Christmas holidays approach Ginny began acting differently, awkwardly, around Draco. Finally, Draco sat her down and got to the root of her discomfort.

"I want you to come home with me for Christmas."

Christmas at the Burrow.

Christmas with the Weasleys.

Rightly so, Draco was aghast at the thought of spending time with a concentrated number of Weasleys.

"I've already asked Mum," Ginny powered ahead, "and she wasn't sure at first, but she said you can come. I said it wasn't fair Harry and Hermione could come if you can't." She looked triumphant at having manoeuvred her mother into having to say yes.

Draco meanwhile paled further. "Pot-head and Granger will be there too?"

Ginny's grin faltered for a second before she drew on her determination and plastered it there. "Yes, they will. As will Ron, Fred, George, Charlie, Bill and Fleur and Mum and Dad and _you_."

Draco mutely nodded. '_Fault nine: her family are extremely annoying, as are the family friends._'

The next time the list of people staying at Hogwarts came around he crossed his name off.

XxX

As her father was now a head of a department, Ginny and the rest of her family were all cordially invited to the Ministry's New Years Eve ball. Despite the knock in their reputation, the Malfoys were also in attendance. Draco had dodged his father's questions about his relationship since early afternoon, when he arrived back to the Manor. There'd be no dodging at the ball however, as he couldn't ignore Ginny and her family, not if he wanted to keep dating her.

So as soon as he arrived he sought her out and when he found her lead her onto the dance floor. As they spun around together, Draco steadily avoided his father's eye. When the dance drew to an end, he turned to him and was rewarded with a blank look and a raised questioning brow.

Draco was sure his father could see the faint flush in his cheeks, and the thought irritated him, but he didn't act on it. Instead, he accompanied Ginny to the drinks table as any good date would.

'_Fault twenty three: my father does not approve._'

XxX

Draco had been walking with the other seventh year Slytherin boys across the courtyard when something wet smacked into the back of his head. Feeling the mush of a snowball slid down his head – some of it going down his collar – Draco spun around, his wand raised and a hex already on his lips. It died when he saw Ginny standing fifteen feet away with a smile of her face. Taking in her rosy cheeks and the excitement in her eyes, Draco couldn't help but smile back.

Telling the others to go on without him, Draco walked over to Ginny.

"Your face!" Ginny laughed and doubled over. As she did so, Draco bent down and swooped up and handful of the snow that had counted the ground. Shoving it down her jumper, he jumped away out of her reach.

Her indignant screech caused him to laugh, and at such a noise Ginny revolved around to meet his eyes.

"Draco Malfoy, you will _pay_," she growled, advancing on him.

Draco just turned and ran, well aware of the angry red head on his tail.

'_Fault thirty: she makes me act like a child._'

XxX

"I've been offered two junior positions and an apprenticeship as a clerk in the courts. The junior positions will be easier, but I'll be one of ten other junior entering this year in each department, and the promotions are irregular and far between." Draco and Ginny were sat outside on a bench in the courtyard, both covered in a warming charm as although the snow had melted, the weather was still frigid and cold.

That morning Draco had received all the replies to his resume and now just had to choose which one to accept. Of course, the jobs all depended on his final N.E.W.T grades but Draco was confidently sure that he didn't have to worry about them.

Ginny had been listening patiently, but when Draco finished she quickly offered her opinion. "Draco, it's still February, you've got ages to decide. Come on, let's sneak down to Hogsmeade, I'll get you a Butterbeer." Jumping up, Ginny held her hand out for him to take.

A flicker of irritation went through Draco, and he couldn't help tersely replying. "I like knowing what I'm going to be doing Ginny, it's better to make the decision now than leave it to the last minute."

"What's wrong with spontaneity?" Ginny shot back.

"Well how are you supposed to know what you're doing? Anyway, you can't be spontaneous with your career. I'm sure you already know what you want to do after Hogwarts."

"Nope." Ginny replied promptly. "I don't know, maybe I'll be an Auror, make a Chaser for the Harpies . . . maybe a lady of luxury." She grinned. "I'll need your help with the last one."

"You've got no idea?" As he had always had a relatively clear idea on what he was going to do with his life, Ginny's carefree attitude confused him. '_Then again, dating Ginny wasn't part of the plan._'

"C'mon Draco, take a day off from the planning," Ginny coaxed, her hand still outstretched.

"Fine. If you promise to take a day and think about what you want to do. You can't just _be _a Chaser for a big team, you have to work for it; train hard, get them to see you fly, all of that."

"I promise," Ginny said and for a moment his seriousness got to her. She had kind of taken it for granted that what she wanted to do would be open to her.

As they sneaked out of the school and down to the village they both pondered over what the other said.

By the time they got their drinks, Draco had found a new fault. '_She doesn't plan. How would she carry off the kind of balls Mother does?_'

XxX

The exams were almost over, Blaise was in the dorm studying for his final one that was the next day. Draco, who had finished earlier, was lying on his bed writing a letter to his father.

"Still at that?" Blaise asked, without looking up from his textbook.

"Almost finished," Draco replied, writing away.

"Well let's here it then, the final fault and reason why you should be dating Ginny Weasley."

Dutifully Draco recited. "_Sixty seven, taste, and her lack of. I can't be seen with a girl who doesn't know what coloured earrings would go better with my tie._ My mother would look as if she ingested Belladonna."

Blaise looked up and nodded. "So why are you dating her?"

Throughout the year, Blaise had asked Draco that question every time he sent a letter off to his father, or commented on a fault. All the times previous his response was silence, this time however, he received an answer.

"Because I don't think they're faults," Draco said quietly and it was as a heavy weight fell away from his shoulders. "I love her Blaise, all of her. Including her faults."

With that, Draco dashed off a final line on the letter before rushing off to the Owlery.

'_Father, after doing what you've asked I've come to the conclusion that I could quite happily continue dating Ginevra even if she doesn't fit quite with the image of a Malfoy. I'm not dating a Malfoy, I'm not dating someone like Mother, I'm dating Ginny Weasley._'

* * *

**A/N: An expansion on drabble #67 in Lapsus.**

**Unbeta'ed.**

**Thanks for reading and please drop a review if you have means of leaving one.**

**Sarah.**


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